But for the certainty that God is in control, the news today would fill me with dread.

Explosive devices arrived by courier at the offices of numerous Democrat power players. At this hour the list includes former President Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, George Soros, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Maxine Waters, and CNN. Eric Holder was also targeted. 

Thank God none of these devices have detonated. Yet.

Two questions come to immediate mind: “Who on earth is responsible?” and “Who on earth is surprised?”

Who Can Be Surprised?

As certain as the changing color of the leaves is the certainty that a nation divided cannot continually pump hatred into the air without it finally igniting.

It’s physics. Combustible vapor plus constant sparks equals an explosion.

It’s history. Take the L.A. Riots. They did not start with the verdict in the Rodney King case. They were fueled in advance by months and months of Maxine Waters and her ilk insisting that without guilty verdicts, violence was justified. “No Justice, No Peace,” she screamed into any mic within 100 yards. The kindling was the historic antagonism of the L.A.P.D towards L.A.’s African-American community. The flames that consumed the city seared into my brain the danger of heated political rhetoric. Watching it build up, this time on a national level, has had me on edge, waiting for the inevitable.

We must pray for the safety of our nation.

So to wake up this morning to the news of bombs aimed at two ex-Presidents, just a couple weeks after deadly ricin was sent to the current President…. Can it really surprise us? No more a surprise that Antifa assaults on a GOP meeting place would at some point be met with a physical response. No more a surprise than seeing a hateful tweet met with one in (un)kind.

Two weeks ago, Hillary Clinton — the 2016 nominee for President, former Secretary of State, former first lady of the United States — declared civility dead. At least until her side was back in power. Soon after, the former Attorney General rejected the idea of taking a higher road, calling instead for kicking one’s opponent. It doesn’t help matters when the president commends the body-slamming capabilities of a congressman charged with attacking a journalist.

You notice today Gov. Cuomo’s plea that the political discourse be toned down. My response: Did you include an apology for saying those who hold conservative views like mine are not welcome in New York? Until then, it’s just words.

You notice today Maxine Waters rejecting “terror and violence.” My response, you ordered your supporters to go after Trump officials, terrorize them wherever they go. More words.

You notice today President Trump called for unity. My initial response: Busting chops to get the bad guys who meant them harm is well and good. But are you personally reaching out to CNN? Checking in with your predecessors? Inviting them to stand together in the Rose Garden? You can get the ball rolling on the nation coming together, Big Guy.

No, I am not surprised by today’s events. Nor will I be surprised when things get worse. If the attempted massacre of GOP congressmen by a ticked off liberal didn’t calm things down, why would a couple packages?

That is why we must be praying for the safety of our leaders, all involved in the political process. This means from the President down to the polling station worker to the precocious young activists going door-to-door.

Who is Responsible?

So who is responsible for the mass mailing of the devices? As of 5 pm Eastern, no one is claiming responsibility. And speculation is rampant.

Given the targets, obvious speculation centers on someone hostile to Democratic leaders and what’s been going on in the nation. The faceless figure is already being given a MAGA hat.

At some point you can’t keep calling for unrest, smashing windows, shooting congressmen, promising to kick your opponents, hectoring them in restaurants, branding conservatives rapists and Nazis, calling this season a fight to save the country from the Deplorables, before someone says: “You really want to have at it?!”

You can’t war against patriot types (and war is the proper word), shutting down their websites, shutting down their Twitter accounts, hounding them out of jobs and not expect blowback.

However, the inclusion of Debbie Wasserman Schultz possibly points to another motivation, as does addressing the CNN package to John Brennan. What do Obama, Hillary, Wasserman Schultz and Brennan have in common? Each has escaped justice. Wasserman Schultz covered up for the Capital Hill activities of the Awan Brothers and as head of the DNC helped to rig the 2016 primaries. Brennan was a top player in the effort to overthrow Donald Trump’s presidency. Obama was neck deep in that as well, along with arming Mexican drug gangs, letting Hezbollah terrorists free, and whatever else one may be grieved about. And Hillary Clinton is … well … Hillary Clinton.

It might easily cross the mind of someone unstable, frustrated over the lack of charges to think,”If Sessions won’t bring them to justice, I will.”

However likely either of these two scenarios are, these aren’t the only possibilities.

Who Else Might Be Responsible?

It would be irresponsible not to consider the possibility this might prove the work of someone on the left. How many stories in the past two years of violence directed toward the left turned out as home-grown, “false flag” attacks? How many acts of racial or religious hatred have turned out to be hoaxes? With the “blue wave” receding would someone turn to an act of desperation? Someone wanting to change the “Mob” narrative?

No one would do something so heinous for political gain, right? Wrong. In 2016 operatives for the Clinton campaign worked to instigate violence at Trump rallies to allow the campaign to claim Trump and his supporters were violent. They ended up on tape bragging about it, even claiming responsibility for a riot in Chicago that left two police officers wounded. I am not saying Hillary is behind today’s events. The point is that progressives in our immediate history have not been above such dangerous stunts.

Which gets to another thought we must seriously consider. Is this the work of a foreign agent provocateur? The DOJ just charged a Russian with attempting to sow discord in the American political system. We know that was the plan in 2016. Would Putin or his agents be willing to raise the stakes? (Coming a couple days after Germany’s Angela Merkel announced she was backing a plan to bring U.S. natural gas to Germany at the expense of Russian natural gas, would a counter-attack be out of the question?)

A third possibility: An anarchist or apolitical madman who gets off on manipulation. Today it’s the Democrats. Get folks running in one direction. Tomorrow the Republicans. Get folks running in the other direction. 

We must pray for the safety of our nation.

Ultimate Responsibility

Ask the question: Who benefits? How much does Russia benefit from this? The Democrat party? How about CNN? Can Trump ever call CNN “Fake News” without Jim Acosta mentioning the bomb in their mailroom? One thing we know for sure: If the guilty party is a right-wing nut job or ticked off Trump supporter, he is a complete, self-defeating moron.

There’s other thing we know for sure. Regardless of who put those particular packages together, few of our hands are clean. FBI tests will not not show the residue of gunpowder on our hands. But a spirit check may find plenty on our hearts. Confronted with the evidence, we must confess.

If you’ve sent a hostile tweet, if you’ve wished ill for a political opponent, if you have rejected civility, if you have called for confrontation, if you’ve seen someone with a politically different point of view as an enemy, as evil, as not welcome, perhaps it’s time to turn off the news and take to your knees.

Then consider what will be in the next package you send a political opponents’ way.